


Now You Say Jerusalem Has Fallen

by matan4il



Series: Jerusalem Bells Are Ringing (Jewish!Buck 'verse) [6]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Jewish, Catholic Character, Catholic Eddie, Catholic!Eddie, Jewish Buck, Jewish Character, Jewish!Buck, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27822154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matan4il/pseuds/matan4il
Summary: Written for the 2020 Buddie advent, for the promptIt's a little bit of Christmas, a little bit of Hanukkah"What are we getting ahead of?""Of the holiday season shopping. I figured we have to, since we’re going to need a lot of different things for Chrismukkah.""Chrismukkah?" Buck asks, surprised.(posted as part of a series, but stands on its own. See notes for the other parts)
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Jerusalem Bells Are Ringing (Jewish!Buck 'verse) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1879417
Comments: 31
Kudos: 100
Collections: 25 (More) Days Of Buddie





	Now You Say Jerusalem Has Fallen

**Author's Note:**

> An installment in the _Jerusalem Bells Are Ringing_ series, where Buck is Jewish and Eddie is Catholic (though not very observant).  
> The installments in this series can each be read independently or together. Posted so far:  
> * _[Jerusalem Bells Are Ringing](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23717221)_ : Realizing he's Jewish, Eddie asks Buck to pray in front of him.  
> * _[Live in Me, Jerusalem](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26011420)_ : Buck takes Eddie with him to a special spot.  
> * _[And Was Jerusalem Builded Here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27211417)_ : Chris returns upset from school.
> 
> Thank you so much to the incredible [Nilshki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nilshki/pseuds/nilshki) for the alpha reading and [Toughpaperround](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToughPaperRound/pseuds/ToughPaperRound) for the beta reading! Love to you both! <33333 
> 
> Please feel free to send me feedback, prompts, questions and so on at [my Tumblr](matan4il.tumblr.com/)! Everything is appreciated.

"For the shift was long and full of chores," Buck replies, hanging his coat by the door and planting a kiss on Eddie's cheek, before Chris comes up to him to get a hug.

"Dork," but the seeming insult from his boyfriend is belied by the affectionate tone. 

"It's better than saying that there weren't a lot of calls and Bobby decided we were arguing too much, playing video games." 

Eddie and Christopher both laugh, which spreads that warmth throughout Buck's chest. It nourishes him in ways he had no idea existed. 

"Well, I hope you're not too tired. Chris has a slumber party later, so if we want to get to the mall in time to get ahead, we have to leave now." 

"What are we getting ahead of?" 

"Of the holiday season shopping. I figured we have to, since we're going to need a lot of different things for Chrismukkah." 

"Chrismukkah?" Buck asks, surprised. 

"Yep, we've already checked online, we found a store at the mall that has both Christmas and Hanukkah ornaments, blow up decorations of Santas and of dreidels..." 

"Oh. Mmm, yeah. That's really good they have everything." 

"So come on. Grab your coat and we can go as soon as you're dressed," Eddie says expectantly. 

"Dad worries you'll catch a cold. You forget to put it on, a lot," Chris elaborates and this kid's sweetness is never not going to make Buck melt. 

Still... "No, I'm sorry, I think I'm too tired from all those chores to come shopping." 

"You are?" Eddie raises an eyebrow a little too high. 

"Mmm hmmm. I know they're not that demanding, but there really were a lot of them." 

"Alright," Eddie looks as if he's trying to decide something before he adds, "are you okay?" 

"Yeah, of course. Just tired. I'll sleep it off and everything will be fine." 

Chris pats Buck on the arm and Eddie nods, the corner of his lips drawn tight. "Sure. Don't forget to take your boots off before you go into the bedroom." 

Buck rolls his eyes, but he remembers too many times when there was no one around who cared whether he remembered such things as whether he would enter a clean and pleasant bedroom or to put on his coat when he went outside. He's grateful, really. 

A bit guilty as well. 

A week and a half go by, because he didn't manage to secure a rented ice rink earlier than that. Even this feat was accomplished faster (and cheaper) only thanks to Bobby's help, who got in touch with the manager of the place that they were once called to. 

The lights are off and the hall Eddie and Chris walk into, Buck's invitation cards in hand, is closed to the public. They're the only ones the guard was instructed to allow in. By the ice rink, there's a table set for three, with a couple of candles on it, and a few more spread out around. 

Eddie takes in the scene. "Buck, what is this?" 

"I, ummm..." Buck is standing awkwardly by the table, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I have something to tell you and I invited you both here because you may not like it." 

Eddie raises his eyebrows at him. 

"Will you please sit down first?" 

Buck pulls the chair out for Christopher first, then for Eddie. After they're seated, there's an insulated hamper by the table and once it's opened up, it reveals all manner of dishes that they like, stored in there to keep the food hot. Buck places everything on the table and takes his place at it, but it's as if all the air has come out of him as soon as he did. 

He looks down at his hands as he splays them out in a gesture of reaching out to try and explain. 

"I'm sorry. I know both of you have been really excited about celebrating Chrismukkah. I feel like I'm about to rain on your parade and I really hate that, but... I don't want us to do that. Look, I get what you've been trying to do, incorporate my holiday into yours, so we get to celebrate together and that's really sweet and considerate. I appreciate your intentions, but that's... it's..." he stops, inhales, then breathes out the following words, "what comes out of it is that we end up celebrating neither, not really." 

They look at him, expecting more and that obscures whatever else they might be feeling. Buck tries to force his heartbeat to slow down, taking in another deep breath and continuing. 

"See, Christmas is beautiful. So is Hanukkah. And they have things in common, yeah. Like the lights, the ones you put up on the Christmas tree and the ones we light in the hanukkiah? We can enjoy both, but... they're not the same lights. Yours symbolize the star that appeared the night Jesus was born and that led three wise men to him. Ours were lit because my ancestors had to fight for their right to keep their identity against the occupying Greeks. They insisted on being different in a world that tried to force them to be exactly like their conquerors. They won, too. For 130 years. And then they lost, badly. But when they were such a tiny, amateur army fighting for their right not to lose who they were, those 130 years? They gave meaning and hope to my people. For centuries after that! They lit the same lights every year to remember that victory. And then put them in the window, so if a lonely Jew happened to be in town, away from loved ones, they'd recognize that that was a Jewish home and that they were welcome to come in, take refuge from the cold and celebrate the holiday together." 

Buck stops to swallow. 

"A light in the window for anyone who might be alone or lost. I don't want it obscured by a giant dreidel made to inflate so it can look like the blow-up Christmas decorations around it, to be like everyone else instead of being different." 

He bites his lip. "I'm sorry if I'm disappointing you, but I don't want to celebrate Chrismukkah. I do want us to celebrate a little bit of Hanukkah and then a little bit of Christmas. I wanna..." he shrugs almost apologetically, scared as he was winding down that his explanations and suggestion won't suffice, that he'd still seem ungrateful to them. "Give both their time and space, treasure each one for its unique beauty." 

"So..." Eddie indicates with a pointed chin the set up around them, "why are we here? What does this have to do with everything you said?" 

"Because I also get that you two wanted us to have a feast that belongs to all of us at the same time. And I thought, even if we keep the holidays separate, we could still have a joint celebration. It doesn't have to be about your Christian tradition or my Jewish customs. It could be ours, as a family, a new one that we create ourselves. We could decide to do this, dinner and some ice skating together in private, every year, right before we start celebrating either holiday. The first Buckley-Diaz tradition, making customs of our own. We can do this as a reminder of the first time we went out as a family and your dad," he smiles at a very serious Chris, itching to boop his nose, "held my hand on the ice to help me skate. Or it doesn't have to be this, we can think about something else if you don't like this, something we can all agree is ours, but, yeah, I..." his speech fades out as it finally hits him that he's babbling a little, terrified of what he might hear next. 

"No, this..." Eddie shakes his head slowly, skimming the place, "I like this. It definitely works for me. What do you say, Chris?" 

Christopher grins. "Three celebrations instead of one? And Buckley-Diaz ice skating, yeeeeees!" he cheers, arms flying up. 

Eddie laughs. "I think he's in." 

Buck hugs Chris, then takes his boyfriend's hand and squeezes it. "I'm sorry," he says quietly. On some level, he still feels like he's letting them down. 

"I'm not. I'm glad we can be honest with each other when we're unhappy about something. Next time, I just hope it doesn't take you as long to speak up?" Buck lets a puff of air out and nods. And that right there is one of the things he loves about them as a unit, that they always manage to eventually find the positive in any situation. Eddie smiles in return, then casts his eyes down, tilting his head this way and that, as if processing a new insight. "I'm also going to try and assume a little less about what you'd like or how we should be doing things as a family. I think I might have been on my own for too long, I kind of forgot that even with good intentions and enthusiasm, I can't jump into things head first. We have to agree on these things together." 

Buck softly strokes his thumb back and forth over Eddie's hand. "Yeah. Same here." It may be a little choked up, but it's fine. No one's judging him here. "Right, first decision for all of us to make together now: food first and then ice skating? Or do I put the dishes back in the hamper so we can let loose a bit before we stuff ourselves?" 

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving. What do you say, Chris?" 

"I'm always going to choose food first." 

Buck chuckles. "Then it's settled." He passes along a few more treats from the hamper, juice boxes for all three of them, along with salt, pepper and several different types of sauce, all of which he had packed into mini-containers. 

When they've finished their meal and he's cleaning up, not everything, only enough to calm his conscience, he looks up and sees Eddie helping Chris onto the ice. As if Buck's gaze is palpable, Eddie returns it and they smile at each other. It's already a great first Buckley-Diaz Fest and he's so thankful, he needs words bigger than his own. "Baruch ata adonay," he finds he's mumbling to himself one of the Hanukkah blessings, "eloheinu melech ha'olam, she'hecheianu ve'kyimanu ve'higianu la'zman ha'ze." _Blessed art thou My Lord, our God, King of the universe, who had given us life and had sustained us and had brought us to these times_.

**Author's Note:**

> Title of this fic is from the song _Crusader_ by Chris De Burgh.


End file.
